Anhausen small fort

Anhausen small fort
limes	ORL NN ( RLK )
Route (RLK)	Upper German Limes , ; route 1 (Rhine-Lahn)
Dating (occupancy)	Domitian / Trajan to Limesfall
Type	Small fort
unit	unknown vexillations
size	a) outer fort: 0.17 ha ; b) inner fort: 0.07 ha
Construction	stone
State of preservation	perceptible soil deformations
place	Neuwied (near Anhausen / Rengsdorf-Waldbreitbach )
Geographical location	50 ° 28 '52.8 " N , 7 ° 32' 18.3" E Coordinates: 50 ° 28 '52.8 " N , 7 ° 32' 18.3" E
height	356 m above sea level NHN
Previous	ORL 1a: Niederbieber Fort (west-south-west)
Subsequently	Small fort Ferbach (southeast)

Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap

The small fort in Anhausen was a Roman fort in the Upper German Limes , which was granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 2005 . The current soil monument is located in the woods southwest of the present-day local community of Anhausen , which is part of the Rengsdorf-Waldbreitbach community in the Rhineland-Palatinate district of Neuwied .

Location and research history

Situation at the time of the RLK

Ground plan and terrain profile of the small fort Anhausen at the time of the excavations by the RLK (1893–1899)

The small fort Anhausen is located at a height between the Gladbach and Heimbach forest, southwest of the present-day town of Anhausen in the Neuwied area. It is located here to the east above the pass of the state road 258, the Dierdorfer Straße, which leads to Gladbach and on to Neuwied.

At the fort square, the Limes reaches its northernmost and at the same time highest point in the course of the arc that it makes around the Neuwied basin . In ancient times, the small fort was used to monitor several streets that crossed the Limes in this area, taking advantage of the pass location.

The fort was first examined and described in 1893 by Heinrich Jacobi . Further excavations by the Reichs-Limeskommission took place in August 1898 and January 1899 in order to clarify the construction history of the camp, which was initially not entirely clear.

Findings

The Imperial Limes Commission had assumed that the Anhaus military camp was a small fort that was originally made up of two different structures - an outer and an inner fort - that were built at the same time. Dietwulf Baatz had already doubted this view and wrote that "in the southwest corner of the larger, older fortification " ... "later a smaller fort" was built. During a subsequent excavation in 2008 as part of the existing documentation for UNESCO protection, Baatz's idea was confirmed.

The defensive wall of the outer camp took up an area of around 0.17 hectares with sides of 43.20 by 39.30 meters. The wall was 1.72 to 1.80 meters thick, had rounded corners and had only a single gate, flanked by two protruding defense towers, which was oriented to the north, towards the Limes. A pointed ditch was in front of it as an obstacle to the approach . In the interior of the outer fort, primarily in the north-western area, traces of crew barracks were found. The interior structures are likely to have consisted mainly of wood.

The smaller camp was built into the larger fort at an unspecified time using part of the west and south walls of the larger fort. With its side lengths of 28.70 by 23.60 meters, it covered an area of almost 0.07 hectares in the south-western area of the outer fort. The smaller fortification also had only a single, north-facing gate, which was not flanked by towers, but by recessed door cheeks. The strength of the newly built north and east walls was, at 2.05 to 2.10 meters, significantly more massive than that of the outer fort. The inner fort was provided with its own ditch in front of it, and the walls of the outer fort were broken through. The walls of the outer fort, insofar as they did not also form the walling of the inner fort, were torn down when the inner fort was built. The trench of the outer camp was filled with the rubble that came from it. In the southern area of the smaller fort, a well was uncovered and dug, which brought some finds to light. The datable material of the fort site as a whole, however, is not sufficient and closed enough to be able to make a statement about the precise dating of the camp. Overall, it will be related to the expansion of the Limes in this section. So it was probably created under Domitian (81–96), but at the latest under Trajan (98–117) and given up again during the Germanic offensives until 259/260 AD ( Limesfall ). The ancient name of the square is not known, and there are no sources available about the units that occupied it. It should have been vexillations ( detachments ) of the neighboring auxiliary camps.

Limes course between the small forts Anhausen and Ferbach

In this section, in which the Limes predominantly runs through the densely wooded mountain ranges of the Westerwald , partly parallel to the Rheinhöhenweg , both the pile ditch itself and the relics of its buildings are still excellently preserved over long stretches.

Traces of the Limes structures between the small fort Anhausen and the small fort Ferbach :

ORL	Name / place	Description / condition
Wp 1/41	"Anhausen"	Left: floor plan Wp 1/41; right: location Wp 1/40 to Wp 1/42 and KK Anhausen Visible hill, possibly a former wooden tower, but probably a wooden building for a different purpose, with sides of 7.2 x 4.2 meters. Between the small fort Anhausen and the Limes ditch on an artificially built hill. Two phases of construction could be proven: After it was destroyed by a fire of unknown timing and cause, the tower was rebuilt. The building was surrounded by a pointed ditch 1.50 meters wide and a remaining depth of 0.80 meters at the time of the excavation.
KK	Anhausen small fort	see above
Wp 1/42	"Lazy Shore"	Uncovered palisade trench at Wp 1/42 Perceptible, flat rubble hill of a square stone tower with a side length of 4.80 meters and a wall thickness of around one meter, located about 25 meters behind the Limes. An older wooden tower surrounded by a 1.20 meter deep ditch could be detected.
Wp 1/43	"On the Kieselweg"	Profile of the palisade ditch between WP 1/42 and WP 1/43 Visible rubble hill group of two stone tower hills. In place of the older wooden tower, built on a raised earth platform and surrounded by a 13 m diameter pointed ditch, the eastern, smaller and more carefully executed of the two stone towers in the quality of the masonry may have been installed. This rectangular stone tower had sides of 4.15 by 4.80 meters and a wall thickness of 0.95 meters. The rising quartzite slate walls rested on a 1.1 meter wide foundation that was sunk 0.5 meters into the ground. It was later replaced by the larger, but less carefully and with inferior stone material made of flat slate rubble, which was about twelve meters away, the western stone tower, which had a side length of 5.53 meters square and the wall thickness was 0.97 meters. The wall foundation, which was made of scrap slate, protruded nine centimeters outward and was only 15 to 20 centimeters deep into the ground. The tower site 1/43 was last examined in 2007 as part of a careful subsequent excavation. One result of this research was that the chronological sequence of the two stone towers could not be determined with certainty, contrary to the above-described opinion of the Reichs-Limeskommission. After the end of the investigation, the original findings were covered with protective film and a half-meter-thick layer of earth on which the plan of the eastern stone tower was shown at the original site from the original stones from the old excavation.
Wp 1/44	"At the old Saatkamp"	Noticeable mound of rubble from a stone tower located around 20 meters behind the Limes ditch, which was already badly damaged at the time of the investigation by the Reich Limes Commission. An older wooden tower was proven by its 1.35 m wide and 45 cm deep pointed trench.
Wp 1/45	"Am Burghoffeld"	Location Wp 1/45 to Wp 1/47 The tower part of the stone tower is no longer visible. It was a square tower with a side length of 4.80 meters and a wall thickness of 90 cm. The tower's crew was probably responsible for observing an old path coming from Heimbach, which crossed the Limes at this point and continued from here in the direction of Isenburg . Between the tower and Wp 1/46 - in the forest next to the grounds of the Rhein-Wied Golf Club - there is a Hallstatt-era grave mound field of the Laufeld culture with a total of around 60 grave mounds. Further to the south-west, in the forest area below the tee of golf course 9, there are still clear traces of what is probably also a Hallstatt-era ring wall system, the so-called "Alteburg". The irregularly shaped complex once covered an area of around 8,500 square meters. Its greatest length was 175 meters, the greatest width 95 meters. Due to the identical find material, which is also scattered over the entire golf course area, a connection with the burial ground seems almost imperative. The northern area of the facility was destroyed by modern agriculture. The "Burghof" - the clubhouse of the GC Rhein-Wied - is of modern origin. It was built after the middle of the 19th century.
Wp 1/46	"In the burial ground"	Between 5 m and 24 m behind the Limes, there are hardly noticeable traces of the tower sites of a stone tower and an older wooden tower within the Hallstatt burial field, which is cut through by the pile ditch in this area. The Roman findings were already so severely disturbed at the time of the Imperial Limes Commission that no exact dimensions could be documented.
Wp 1/47	"At the Huheld"	Traces of both a wooden and a stone tower, which are about 80 m apart on a mountain saddle, where several old paths meet, which presumably already existed in pre-Roman times. This geographic traffic situation was possibly the reason for the erection of a watchtower at this point. The wooden tower point was located directly on the Limes, it was covered in its eastern area by the wall of the pile ditch. The side dimensions of the wooden tower are likely to have been over four meters, it was surrounded by an originally about 1.50 m deep ditch at a distance of three to four meters. The stone tower was about 18 meters from the Limes moat. The side length of the square tower was 4.75 m, its wall thickness was 90 centimeters.
Wp 1/48	"On the hormone morning"	Wp 1 / 48–1 / 50 site plan Significant deformations of the terrain of three stone towers. Two of the towers had a rarely seen hexagonal floor plan. Remains of a wooden precursor tower have been found under the northernmost tower. The north tower was the smallest of the ensemble. It was at the highest point of the site, its distance from the Limes palisade was about 25 m. The hexagonal tower had a side length of 2.80 m, which corresponds to a diameter of 5.60 m. Its wall thickness was 70 cm. The middle tower was a building with a square floor plan. The side length was 4.90 m, the wall thickness was one meter. Finally, the southernmost tower was hexagonal again. Its side length was 3.65 m, so its diameter was 7.30 m. The thickness of the walls was 100 cm, they were made of particularly high quality. All three tower positions were surrounded by drainage ditches. The northern and southern towers each had a circular ditch, the middle one an almost square running ditch. No statements can be made about the chronological order in which the towers were erected. Wp 1/48 excavation situation Wp 1/48 floor plans Wp 1/48 profiles Wp 1/48 details
Wp 1/49		Due to the distance between Wp 1/48 and Wp 1/50 and the high concentration of finds, suspected but not archaeologically proven tower.
Wp 1/50	"Sweet beeches"	Hardly noticeable traces of a stone tower, around 23 m from the Limes ditch. The findings were already severely disturbed during the investigation by the Reich Limes Commission. The sides of the square tower were 5.55 m long, the wall thickness could not be determined.
Wp 1/51		Due to the distance between Wp 1/50 and Wp 1/52 and the topographical conditions (line of sight), assumed but not proven tower.
Wp 1/52	"On the bend"	Barely noticeable traces of the terrain of a stone tower. A wooden tower site that has been proven by the Reichs-Limeskommission has now been completely destroyed by a sand pit. The stone tower was also massively affected by the sand extraction. The square stone tower had a side length of 4.70 meters and had 0.85 meters thick walls. The observation of a 2.20 meter deep basement is striking. To the north-east of the tower, a cemetery from the Hallstatt period spreads out on both sides of the Limes. Only a good 3 kilometers as the crow flies separate the Wp 1/52 - which is located here on a ridge between the Sayn and the Brexbachtal at a geographically and strategically not insignificant place - at this position from the Bendorf fort . There are also other important cultural monuments in the immediate vicinity. The place Sayn the castle Sayn and Sayn Castle is located less than one kilometer away. The castle is the main seat of the Sayn-Wittgenstein family .
Wp 1/53		Suspected but not proven tower.
Wp 1/54	"On the powder mountain"	About 37 meters behind the Limes ditch is the heavily eroded rubble hill of a stone tower, under which an older wooden tower has been proven. The square stone tower had sides that were 4.60 meters long and the walls were 0.80 meters thick. It was surrounded by a ring trench 1.50 meters wide and 0.55 meters deep. A watchtower reconstruction was built around 20 meters south of this tower in 1912 under the scientific direction of the University of Bonn and the Office for the Preservation of Monuments, which, according to today's archaeological knowledge, is partially flawed. So the tower is too low and its entrance should be higher. Furthermore, the upper floor was not built using truss technology, but also made of stone. The Roman watchtowers were also plastered white. A brickwork was then painted on this plaster in red with simple lines.
Wp 1/55	"At the label"	Hardly noticeable rubble mound of a square stone tower, about 30 meters behind the pile ditch. The side length was 4.80 meters, the walls were between 95 and 100 cm thick. An older wooden tower could be detected directly under the stone tower hill.
Wp 1/56	"In the oat piece"	Tower location of a stone tower, under which traces of an older wooden tower can still be found. At the time of the excavation, the remains of the tower were no longer completely preserved in their floor plan. The side lengths of 5.00 × 4.65 meters documented by the Reich Limes Commission can therefore only be viewed with due caution. The walls were 0.85 meters thick. The tower was surrounded by a narrow and flat ring moat.
Wp 1/57	"Sayner place"	The former watchtower was excavated and documented by the Reich Limes Commission in 1895, but has since been completely destroyed as a result of clay mining. The almost square stone tower was below average with its sides of 3.85 × 3.90 meters. Its wall thickness was 0.65 to 0.70 meters. To the east of the stone tower was an older wooden tower. The area of the clay pit "Hüttewohl" is now a nature reserve.
Wp 1/58	"Am Steinbrücker Weg"	Well visible rubble hill group of two stone towers, which are about 50 m apart and between 30 and 45 meters behind the Limes ditch. Due to the already advanced destruction of this excavation area, some of the dimensions could only be determined very vaguely. For the eastern tower, a wall thickness of 0.90 meters was determined and a side length of 4.80 meters was determined. The side length of the western tower could have been about five meters. Furthermore, an older, not overbuilt wooden tower site could be identified. A prehistoric burial mound was apparently cut into the construction of the wooden tower.
Wp 1/59	"Three Oaks"	Easily visible rubble hill group made up of two stone and two wooden tower sites. The northernmost tower point is that of a wooden tower with an irregular ring ditch, which was located directly on the Limes and whose findings were partially covered by the wall. Almost 30 m south of the Limes ditch follows the second wooden tower, the former tower of which was surrounded by a circular ditch. A good ten meters east of this square and around 45 meters behind the Limes ditch are two stone tower points, the towers of which were only about five meters apart. The side length of the western of the two towers was 4.65 meters, its wall thickness 0.70 to 0.75 meters. The eastern tower had a side length of 4.80 meters. The wall thickness could no longer be determined. Immediately to the east of the tower points, only about ten meters from the northernmost tower, the Limes moat was interrupted over a length of about ten meters. A Limes crossing could have been here.
Wp 1/60	"Roman bush"	Traces of a wooden tower foundation and the rubble of a stone tower as well as another stone building of unknown destination. The square stone tower had a side length of around five meters and had walls one meter thick. The wooden tower had at least similar side dimensions. It was located directly on the Limes and was later partially buried by the moat. The walls of the third building could only be partially determined. Its walls were 0.90 meters thick, it took up an area of at least 17.50 × 14.30 meters, the masonry was not carried out very carefully. Part of it is under the moat. The context of the findings, as well as the prehistoric ceramics that were recovered in connection with this building, indicate that it could be a non-Roman building. Other prehistoric findings and finds in this area - such as some prehistoric burial mounds and numerous prehistoric litter finds - suggest that the place was already settled in pre-Roman times.
Wp 1/61 to 1/62		due to the distance between Wp 1/60 and the small fort Ferbach as well as the topographical conditions (line of sight) suspected but not proven towers
KK	Small fort Ferbach	see main article small fort Ferbach

Monument protection

The small fort Anhausen and the mentioned ground monuments have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage as a section of the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes since 2005 . In addition, the facilities are cultural monuments according to the Monument Protection and Conservation Act (DSchG) of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Investigations and targeted collection of finds are subject to approval, and accidental finds are reported to the monument authorities.

literature

Dietwulf Baatz : The Roman Limes. Archaeological excursions between the Rhine and the Danube. 4th edition. Gebr. Mann, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-7861-2347-0 , pp. 99-103.
Ernst Fabricius , Felix Hettner , Oscar von Sarwey (ed.): The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes of the Roemerreich . Section A, Volume 1: Lines 1 and 2 (1936).
Christian Fleer: Typification and function of the small buildings on the Limes. In: Egon Schallmayer (Ed.): Limes Imperii Romani. Contributions to the specialist colloquium “Limes World Heritage Site” in November 2001 in Lich-Arnsburg. (= Saalburg writings. 6). Bad Homburg v. d. H. 2004, ISBN 3-931267-05-9 , pp. 75-92.
Cliff Alexander Jost : Investigations at old excavation sites of the Reich Limes Commission on the Limes between Wied and Saynbachtal. In: Peter Henrich (Ed.): Perspektiven der Limesforschung. 5th colloquium of the German Limes Commission . (= Contributions to the Limes World Heritage. Volume 5). Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2465-8 , pp. 21-28.
Cliff Alexander Jost: The Roman Limes in Rhineland-Palatinate. (= Archeology on the Middle Rhine and Moselle. Volume 14). State Office for Monument Preservation Rhineland-Palatinate, Koblenz 2003, ISBN 3-929645-07-6 , pp. 76-105.
Margot Klee : The Limes between Rhine and Main. Theiss, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-8062-0276-1 , pp. 44-48.
Margot Klee: Limes. Course 1, SS 1 / 1–1 / 93. In: Heinz Cüppers : The Romans in Rhineland-Palatinate. Licensed edition of the 1990 edition. Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-60-0 , pp. 444f.
Markus Scholz : Reduction from the late Limes period versus medieval installation in Limes forts. In: E. Schallmayer (Ed.): Limes Imperii Romani. Contributions to the specialist colloquium “Limes World Heritage Site” in November 2001 in Lich-Arnsburg. (= Saalburg writings. 6). Bad Homburg v. d. H. 2004, ISBN 3-931267-05-9 , pp. 135-145.

Web links

Klaus Deinaß (1982) about the small fort Anhausen on Konrad Weber's private website; accessed on February 10, 2015

Remarks

↑ In their report (ORL Section A, Volume 1, pp. 93f.), The Reichs-Limeskommission assumed a single construction phase and, during the excavations between 1893 and 1899, discovered a coherent wall connection between the outer and inner structure (see also web link Klaus Deinaß). The small fort Anhausen can also be found in M. Klee (1989, p. 44).
↑ Cliff Alexander Jost: Investigations at old excavation sites of the Reich Limes Commission on the Limes between Wied and Saynbachtal. In: Peter Henrich (Ed.): Perspektiven der Limesforschung. 5th colloquium of the German Limes Commission . (= Contributions to the Limes World Heritage. Volume 5). Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2465-8 , pp. 21-23.
↑ Including a sesterce that can possibly be assigned to Commodus (180-192), as well as a denarius of Severus Alexander (222-235).
↑ ORL = numbering of the Limes structures according to the publication of the Reich Limes Commission on the O bergermanisch- R aetic- L imes
↑ Wp = W oh p east, watch tower. The number before the slash denotes the Limes section, the number after the slash denotes the respective watchtower.
↑ Wp 1/41 at 50 ° 28 '55.04 " N , 7 ° 32' 17.41" O50.481955555556 7.5381694444444
↑ KK = unnumbered K linseed K astell
↑ Wp 1/42 at 50 ° 28 '41.26 " N , 7 ° 32" 35.79 " O50.478127777778 7.543275
↑ wood tower and eastern stone tower, the tower location Wp 1/43 at 50 ° 28 '28.33 " N , 7 ° 33' 0.53" O50.474536111111 7.5501472222222
↑ Western stone tower, the tower location Wp 1/43 at 50 ° 28 '28.51 " N , 7 ° 32' 59.46" O50.474586111111 7.54985
↑ Cliff Alexander Jost: Investigations at old excavation sites of the Reich Limes Commission on the Limes between Wied and Saynbachtal. In: Peter Henrich (Ed.): Perspektiven der Limesforschung. 5th colloquium of the German Limes Commission . (= Contributions to the Limes World Heritage. Volume 5). Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2465-8 , pp. 23-28.
↑ Wp 1/44 at 50 ° 28 '24.85 " N , 7 ° 33' 36.03" O50.473569444444 7.5600083333333

↑ Wp 1/45 at 50 ° 28 '14.32 " N , 7 ° 33' 46.65" O

↑ Official website of the Golfclub Rhein-Wied e. V.

↑ In the literature also as the "Laufelder Group".

↑ The grave field was examined by Georg Loeschcke and published in the "Limesblatt". The finds ended up in what was then the Bonn Provincial Museum, the forerunner of the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn .

↑ Around 50 ° 27 '50 " N , 7 ° 33' 5" E

↑ "Burghof" at 50 ° 27 '57.1 " N , 7 ° 33' 26.6" E

↑ At 50 ° 28 '5.04 " N , 7 ° 33' 53.98" E

↑ At 50 ° 28 '5.92 " N , 7 ° 33' 54.05" E

↑ At 50 ° 27 '48.71 " N , 7 ° 34' 8.31" E

↑ Wp 1/47 at 50 ° 27 '51.21 " N , 7 ° 34' 6.46" E

↑ Wp 1/48, north tower, at 50 ° 27 ′ 24.65 ″ N , 7 ° 34 ′ 19.94 ″ E

↑ Wp 1/48, center, at 50 ° 27 '24.16 " N , 7 ° 34' 20.11" E

↑ Wp 1/48, south tower at 50 ° 27 '23.99 " N , 7 ° 34' 19.51" E

↑ Wp 1/49 at approximately 50 ° 27 '1.3 " N , 7 ° 34' 19.07" O

↑ Wp 1/50 at 50 ° 26 '54.2 " N , 7 ° 34' 36.57" O

↑ Approximately at 50 ° 26 '45.22 " N , 7 ° 34' 51.54" E

↑ Wp 1/52 stone at 50 ° 26 ′ 35.05 ″ N , 7 ° 35 ′ 9.48 ″ E

↑ Wp 1/52 wood at 50 ° 26 '35 .24 " N , 7 ° 35' 8.56" O

↑ Wp 1/53 at approximately 50 ° 26 '33.14 " N , 7 ° 35' 33.41" O

↑ Wp 1/54 at 50 ° 26 '30.92 " N , 7 ° 35' 53.19" E

↑ Dietwulf Baatz : The Roman Limes. Archaeological excursions between the Rhine and the Danube. 4th edition. Mann, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-7861-2347-0 , pp. 99-103; here: p. 101; Watch tower reconstruction at 50 ° 26 '31.24 " N , 7 ° 35' 53.75" O . Source: Entry on reconstructed Limes watchtower WP 1/54 in Sayn in the " KuLaDig " database of the Rhineland Regional Association , accessed on July 19, 2017.

↑ Wp 1/55 at 50 ° 26 '32.29 " N , 7 ° 36' 18.64" E

↑ Wp 1/56 at 50 ° 26 '32.13 " N , 7 ° 36' 47.79" O

↑ ORL Abt. A, Volume 1, pp. 110f. and panel 16.

↑ Wp 1/57 stone at 50 ° 26 '23.27 " N , 7 ° 36' 59.81" O

↑ Wp 1/57 wood at 50 ° 26 '23.19 " N , 7 ° 37' 0.87" O

↑ Wp 1/58 Stein Ost at 50 ° 26 ′ 15.38 ″ N , 7 ° 37 ′ 22.13 ″ E

↑ Wp 1/58 Stein West at 50 ° 26 ′ 15.09 ″ N , 7 ° 37 ′ 19.45 ″ E

↑ Wp 1/58 wood at 50 ° 26 ′ 15.8 ″ N , 7 ° 37 ′ 22.52 ″ E

↑ Wp 1/59 wood Northern at 50 ° 26 '18.09 " N , 7 ° 37' 57.48" O

↑ Wp 1/59 wood south at 50 ° 26 '17.07 " N , 7 ° 37" 58.11 " E

↑ Wp 1/59 Stein West at 50 ° 26 '17.08 " N , 7 ° 37' 59.02" E

↑ Wp 1/59 Stein Ost at 50 ° 26 '17.02 " N , 7 ° 37' 59.64" E